DF Before Children

ZoeH911

Hey There...


I have come to these forums mainly for motivation...
Little back story and finance..


I am one of these people who 'Save' and what I mean by 'Save' is I put money in my savings account and then the little gremlins come and steal it.


I have been trying to save since I have started working - it was going well until I found alcohol and cigs, boyfriend (which is now husband) and living independently.


financial situ..


Mortgage (I know doesn't really count but hinders saving)
Currently: £153,020 will be going up to £250,000 - 35yrs left


Loan: £5600 - 3 out of 4 yrs left.


Credit Card : £720


various finances-
Computer - 6 months left
gift - 6 months left


and I think a few small things on finance - my aim for this is we will be finance free by December but the ultimate goal is not to take out any more finances & to save for them instead.


I have set my self a goal with putting £5 per week in to an account that I can't touch...


I would like to try and do the £2 challenge - so I will keep updates on the savings front.


I am mainly looking for ideas to help save money so I can throw any spare cash at the loan and finances.


sorry for the long post but yeah fire away

greensalad

Good job on identifying your debt.

I'd recommend working out exactly what those finance items are and how much is left. It's really important to know 100% where you stand with debt before you can tackle it properly.

My recommendation would be to do an SOA (statement of affairs). You need to sit down, give yourself an hour or so, and a cup of tea, and actually get this filled in as 100% accurate as you can. No guessing. http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

Once you've completed your SOA, it'll typically show you how much money you have to spend on debt repayments. If it's not a lot, post your SOA up here and people will advise where you can cut corners to decrease your outgoings.

Once you've got the number you're able to pay to debt repayment sorted, you can do a "snowball". This is where you input all your debts and interest rates and it will give you a schedule for what you should pay in order to minimise your interest: http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

The snowball will also show you how long it'll take to pay everything off. AKA your Debt-Free-Date (DFD).

Good luck, look forward to seeing your figures posted up here.